Chuck Garfien is a man of the people at White Sox games

White Sox fans were abuzz at SoxFest in 2015. The team had won the offseason, adding veteran hitters Melky Cabrera and Adam LaRoche to the lineup, Jeff Samardzija to the front of the rotation and Zach Duke and David Robertson to the back of the bullpen. Surely, the Sox would celebrate more than just the 10th anniversary of their 2005 World Series championship.

But the team spent one day above .500. It teased with a seven-game winning streak in July that put it in wild-card contention, but that was the highlight of the season. The Sox finished fourth in the American League Central, and that buzz in January ended up as a mutter.

Sox fans will be buzzing again when they enter a sold-out SoxFest on Friday at McCormick Place. The team has won another offseason, adding top catcher Yasmani Grandal and slugger Edwin Encarnacion to the lineup, Dallas Keuchel to the front of the rotation and Steve Cishek to the back of the bullpen.

But this team is different. It has top prospects in place and more on the way to complement, if not outperform, the veterans.

‘‘That season was like a paper tiger: There was no foundation,’’ said Chuck Garfien, the Sox anchor/reporter/podcaster for NBC Sports Chicago. ‘‘They didn’t have any experience with each other, and it became like every man for himself. This is a nucleus that’s been together for a long time. These are very calculated moves the White Sox made to put around this core.

‘‘I haven’t seen this much excitement since going into the 2006 season, coming off the World Series. I know that is a high bar to set this at, but that’s how it feels.’’

Garfien would know. After being hired when then-Comcast SportsNet Chicago launched in October 2004 as an anchor/reporter, he was assigned to cover the Sox in the spring of 2005. He has covered them ever since. (He and Pat Boyle are the last two original on-air faces.)

Garfien took the job with a pre-existing condition: diehard Sox fan. He grew up in Flossmoor and attended Homewood-Flossmoor High School, where he earned his broadcasting chops, and USC. Then he spent 10 years crisscrossing the country, working at ESPN and TV stations in Denver, Detroit and New York, all with an eye on coming home.

Since returning, there isn’t a platform of Sox content he hasn’t touched. He hosts pregame and postgame shows, writes for NBCSCH’s website and leads the blossoming ‘‘White Sox Talk’’ podcast with Ryan McGuffey, Vinnie Duber and Chris Kamka.

But he’s most visible as the in-game reporter at home games. And with NBCSCH becoming the Sox’ exclusive rights holder this season, he’ll work every home game for the first time.

When he became the in-game reporter last season, Garfien was concerned his involvement would be minimal. But that hardly has been the case. Play-by-play voice Jason Benetti and analyst Steve Stone often turn the broadcast into a three-person show.

‘‘From the very beginning, it was almost like they were more excited about me doing it than I was because they saw how they wanted to utilize me even more than I had seen it at the time,’’ Garfien said. ‘‘It’s been just one of the great opportunities and even surprises of my career.’’

Garfien aims to inform the audience about the goings-on in the clubhouse and take them where they can’t go, such as in the car with Eloy Jimenez on the way to Wrigley Field last season for his first game against the team that traded him to the Sox.

Garfien also keeps an eye on the crowd, where he says there’s a gold mine of interesting stories. He fits right in, able to share as many stories of his Sox fandom as the fans. When he was 6, his T-ball team played a game in the outfield at old Comiskey Park between games of a doubleheader.

‘‘I had one at-bat, and I flew out,’’ he said. ‘‘I remember the face of the girl who caught the ball. I love finding those stories and bringing them to life.’’

He’ll try to find more stories Friday at SoxFest. First he’ll work the ‘‘black carpet,’’ interviewing players as they arrive for the opening ceremony, which will be co-hosted by Leila Rahimi and Duber. Coverage on NBCSCH begins at 3 p.m.

At 7, he’ll join fellow H-F alum Benetti for ‘‘SoxFest @ Night.’’ The hourlong show, which will air on NBCSCH+, will feature interviews with players and management on the main stage in front of the convention crowd.

‘‘Once upon a time, Hawk [Harrelson] and DJ [radio analyst Darrin Jackson] used to host a show from SoxFest, and they would bring players up again and again live on TV,’’ Garfien said. ‘‘We haven’t done that since I’ve been here. It’s gonna be a lot of fun.’’

This time, Sox fans hope that fun extends long into the season.